If you’re looking at last Friday as a potential bottom for this market... don’t. Friday’s don’t mark bottoms, says Jeff Macke of the iBankCoin blog. He points out that selloffs in excess of 5% have smacked up against lows on a Friday exactly twice in the last 15 years. So not likely.

“The bottom will come when buying stocks seems completely insane,” he said, pointing to 1,920 on the S&P 500
SPX, -1.02%
as the number to watch in Monday’s session.

Then again, that level could be breached by the time the opening bell rings.

There’s no shortage of negativity in this market — IG market analyst Christ Weston describes it as “peak bearishness” — but, according to the man behind our chart of the day (see below), that just means opportunities abound for those with a little gumption. Dip buying, which has been a hallmark of this resilient bull market, isn’t going away, he predicts.

This, of course, isn’t your standard-issue dip. In fact, it’s the biggest ever to start the year. The Dow
DJIA, -0.95%
has skidded 6.2% over the first five trading days. Pretty much the same thing on the S&P. Not much better on the Nasdaq, though we’ve seen worse.

The chart

It’s pretty clear that the bears are in charge at this point: fundamentally, technically, however you want to look at it. “The present market environment is painting as bearish a picture as it ever has during the entirety of this secular bull market,” writes Ali Meshkati of the Zenolytics blog. But, he says, this lopsided sentiment shouldn’t strike fear among investors. On the contrary. “The fact that there is a singularity taking place along the same line of negative thinking doesn’t legitimatize the prevailing psychology,” he said. “In fact, it should cause investors to question it profusely.”

Meshkati used this Dow chart going back 90 years (click for a bigger version) to illustrate his belief that the bull is alive and well. In fact, as he points out, this is still a “baby bull market” with plenty of upside. “The dips in the U.S. equities continue to be buys, with a special focus on technology and financials, as they will continue to lead the markets forward,” he wrote.

The buzz

Elon Musk took to Twitter to offer his latest bold prediction, and it’s a real doozy. He says Tesla
TSLA, -1.67%
customers, maybe within two years, will be able to use their phones to summon their cars to drive themselves cross country. That includes self-charging along the way.

Alcoa
AA, -1.14%
which is due to report earnings after the close on Monday, and lousy ones at that, said it would announce a $1.5 billion long-term supply contract Monday with General Electric’s
GE, -1.12%
aviation unit.

The call

Plenty of analysts are confident oil will sooner or later put together a nice little rebound given that prices have fallen to 12-year lows. But not many are as bullish as Wolfe Research’s Paul Sankey. He told CNBC he’s looking for oil to almost triple by 2018, although there could be a few more painful economic swings before then. Sankey said he sees oil averaging $40 a barrel this year before gaining momentum in 2017.

“Our bull case for refining is about U.S. gasoline demand being strong,” he said. “At a given point if things get bad enough, the big oils will outperform on balance sheet.”

The economy

The highlight of the week doesn’t come until Friday, when we get retail-sales numbers for December. There’s not much on tap for Monday other than the labor market conditions index, which will be released at 10 a.m. Eastern.

The stat

Some 8%, or $7.6 trillion, of the world’s wealth is hidden in tax havens, according to Gabriel Zucman, a teacher at Cal Berkeley who penned the book “The Hidden Wealth of Nations.” He also said that, because of this fraud from unreported foreign accounts, governments across the globe lose about $200 billion in tax revenue each year.

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Intraday Data provided by SIX Financial Information and subject to terms of use. Historical and current end-of-day data provided by SIX Financial Information. All quotes are in local exchange time. Real-time last sale data for U.S. stock quotes reflect trades reported through Nasdaq only. Intraday data delayed at least 15 minutes or per exchange requirements.